The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 606: Out

“Who’s Qi Ying?”

“Me.” Gao Yang’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Do you not like it? Then I can use a different name. I’ve got a lot. Dark Horse, Seven Shadow, Jin Tiannan, Little Gao, Subject of the Fallen Angel...”

“Alright, alright. This will do.” The woman waved a hand, and the contract turned into a white butterfly, flying into the open drawer of the nightstand before unfolding back into a smooth sheet, and the drawer closed with a thud.

“Anything else?” Gao Yang asked.

“No.” The woman sat back on the swivel chair with her legs crossed and rested on the desk. A pudding popsicle returned to her hand. She started licking it with enjoyment.

Gao Yang couldn’t take her doing all that in the image of the dorm keeper, and with a thought, he turned her into a comedic character named Ruhua[1].

“Again? You disrespectful brat.” The woman shot him a withering glare, her eyes glinting fiercely. “Out.”

Gao Yang’s vision went dark, and he blacked out.

...

“Seven Shadow!”

“Elder Seven Shadow...”

Gao Yang heard voices around him. He slowly opened his eyes and recovered consciousness in a second, quickly sitting up and activating Psychic Armor. Scanning his surroundings calmly, he realized that he was lying in a crater. Yes, a crater rather than a bottomless pit they had called the abyss.

It wasn’t deep, only about four meters in depth and a couple dozen meters in diameter, looking like a swimming pool in the shape of a hemisphere that had been dug into the ground but not yet tiled.

Gao Yang was confused. Why was he here?

Oh, right. I went down to explore the abyss, but what happened later? It feels like I’ve fallen asleep.

“You okay, Seven Shadow?” Vermilion Bird called out from outside the crater, and the others looked over with concern.

The rope tied to Gao Yang had suddenly plunged quickly and broke after he entered the abyss, and all the others could do was wait. They waited three hours, from eight o’clock at night to eleven o’clock.

Then the black fog in the abyss thinned before dispersing altogether.

Without the cover of the black fog, they realized to their surprise that the “abyss” was merely a large crater, and its depth didn’t even reach five meters. Gao Yang lay in the center of it, looking unscathed with his chest rising and falling regularly, as if he had just fallen asleep.

Still, they didn’t dare to enter the crater recklessly after what had happened to Heavenly Dog and Black Fish. This could very well be a trap in disguise.

So they stayed outside and called out to Gao Yang.

Indeed, Gao Yang woke up after a few calls. Judging by his reaction, he seemed lost, too.

“Elder Seven Shadow,” War Tiger said with a sarcastic smile. “How’s the trip? Is the scenery good?”

Gao Yang didn’t immediately respond. He slowly rose to his feet and stretched his limbs. Then he tapped into his energy to make sure there was no threat around.

He teleported out of the crater, returning to the group.

“What happened?” Qilin asked.

“I don’t remember,” Gao Yang said honestly.

Qilin’s eyes sharpened. The same had happened to Black Fish.

“Are you joking?” War Tiger’s eyebrows jumped up. He was unconvinced.

“I remember nothing, really,” repeated Gao Yang.

Vermilion Bird went up to take Gao Yang’s hand, and a gentle stream of energy circulated through Gao Yang’s body. She pulled back, turning to Qilin and Azure Dragon.

“He’s not hurt, and his energy’s stable.”

Qilin stayed silent, while Azure Dragon frowned slightly.

“How long has it been?” Gao Yang asked.

“Three hours,” Qilin answered.

Gao Yang quietly accessed the system to check his Luck points. He had gained no points at all. In theory, even without any bonus, he should’ve gotten 6 Luck points after three hours. Could it be that the passage of time was different inside the abyss? Or did Luck points simply not increase there?

Gao Yang didn’t remember what he had seen or encountered at all, but he felt like he had done something important, some sort of trade.

His head was throbbing. He said again, “I don’t remember a thing, for real.”

“I believe you.” Qilin nodded. “Mind if we search you, Seven Shadow? There’s a possibility that you’ve found the Rune Circuit but forgotten about it because of outside force.”

“I don’t mind,” Gao Yang said readily.

Qilin glanced at Azure Dragon.

“Forgive the offense, Seven Shadow.” Azure Dragon went up to him.

Gao Yang opened his arms like he was going through security at an airport. Azure Dragon searched him thoroughly, and he found no Rune Circuit.

He shook his head at Qilin.

Confusion flashed through Qilin’s eyes. Rune Circuits were the most stable objects in the world. They couldn’t be destroyed, and they wouldn’t just disappear. Where had the Guard Rune Circuit gone? And why hadn’t Dragon come when so much was at stake? Could it be that Dragon had foreseen that the Guard Rune Circuit wasn’t in the abyss?

“Whatever the case, Elder Seven Shadow has erased the insidious abyss,” Surnamed Li said gratefully from her wheelchair. “Tonight’s adventure still bore fruit.”

“You’re right,” War Tiger agreed with a smile.

Qilin nodded and stopped dwelling on things. He turned to Gao Yang. “Good work today.”

“It’s only right,” Gao Yang said.

“Please clean up the mess, Six Rime, Mischievous Monkey.” Qilin continued to give orders. “Let’s end things here tonight. We’ll discuss the matter of the Rune Circuit at a later time.”

“Ugh, I got excited for nothing. I’m off.” War Tiger turned to leave with his hands behind his head.

“Guildmaster,” Gao Yang called out.

“Yes?” Qilin turned to him.

“There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Here?”

“No, I’d like to have a private conversation with you.” Gao Yang didn’t mind saying that when others could hear him.

“When?”

“Whenever’s good for you.”

Qilin thought for a moment. “Then let’s talk tonight at my clinic. Vermilion Bird, give us a ride, please.”

Vermilion Bird nodded. “Of course.”

Azure Dragon glanced at Six Rime. “After you’re done cleaning up, go to Elder Seven Shadow to resume your guard duty.”

“Yes, sir,” Six Rime responded.

1. A recurring character in Stephen Chow’s movies, a purposefully ugly woman played by a male actor. ☜